PYONGYANG, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday blasted a biennial exercise led by the United States in the Pacific, saying the drill was pushing the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a war.

    In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), an unnamed spokesman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said, "The exercises targeted against the DPRK are more provocative and dangerous than the previous ones in terms of their scale and aggressive nature."

    Rim of the Pacific-2006 (RIMPAC-2006), the U.S. Navy's large-scale biennial exercise involving multiple nations, is due to be conducted in Hawaii waters from June 26 to July 28.

    "This once again clearly indicates that their loud-mouthed [so called] peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is nothing but a deceptive artifice to start a new war," said the spokesman.

    "The reality clearly shows who is chiefly to blame for harassing peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and pushing the situation to the brink of a war," he added.

    The spokesman also warned South Korea not to participate in the exercise, which he said was "a dangerous provocation as it will endanger the overall inter-Korean relations and [constitute] a treacherous act of escalating the confrontation and tension on the Korean Peninsula."

    RIMPAC-2006, the 20th such exercise, brings together military forces from seven Pacific rim nations, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Chile, Peru, Japan and South Korea, and also involves the United Kingdom. Enditem